


Basic Forms.

by ChloeMagea



Series: Ah Yes, Reapers... [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Mass Effect 2, Quinn Shepard is Crazy so theres that, Renegade Commander Shepard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2014-02-13
Packaged: 2018-01-06 18:40:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChloeMagea/pseuds/ChloeMagea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>FemShep/Garrus. It has been two years since the renegade Quinn Shepards death but she has resurfaced. Only to find that she has hidden sexual feelings for her teammate Garrus Vakarian.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Death

**Author's Note:**

> This was previously posted on my FF.Net account and I love it so much I wanted to have it here just incase. It hasn't been updated for some time now but it is still one of those fics that hold a special place in my heart.

CRASH

 

The Normandy was under attack the sirens sounded in a deafening horror. There was panic as the ship started to collapse around the crew.  She ran like a bold of lighting down the corridors, in her full armor. She looked around, her eyes glancing over the bright flames and the smoke that was rising from them, putting her hand in front of her face to shield herself from the heat. 

"Shepard!" He yelled running towards her his roaring voice cutting through the screaming and chaos.

"Garrus! You need to get everyone off the ship!" She said just a steel beam came crashing down behind them.

"No! Quinn I'm not leaving you!" Garrus yelled.

"I gave ya a fucking order, Lieutenant Vakarian!" Quinn Shepard demanded pushing Garrus back. "If you see any other members of the team tell them the same thing. I don't want to see any of you on this vessel coming after me, now go!" Quinn ordered. He was not going to disobey her, he turned to leave her and do what he asked of her, but he stopped and turned and looked at her once more. She stood there without fear or selfishness her face and eyes were light up by the orange and yellow glow of the fires that were raging around her. She nodded at him and then put on her helmet.

That was the last time Garrus Vakarian saw Quinn Shepard alive. The image as burned in to his memory her standing in the flamed haze, as well as another that hunted his nightmares.

He remembered looking out of the window of the shuttle, at the bast from the Normandy and through the debris they saw her life less body floating in the vacuum of space.

And there was nothing any of them could do to save her. 


	2. Good Eye, Snipper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm changing the title names because they were so lame. lol.

"Archangel? Really what kind of fuckin' name is that?" Shepard spoke, as she walked towards where this vigilante was hiding across the bridge and to his base. "How big is his ego? Apparently he thinks he's the shit...or he just has a small penis." She held on to her assault rifle in her hand lazily and shooting the freelancers with little effort. Child's play for her. Most of them were horrible marks men or just people who had pistols and where out looking to make few quick credits and throwing their lives away for it. "Why can't I just have someone from my old team?" Shepard fussed sucking her teeth.  Jacob and Miranda said nothing to Shepard's question, they just glanced at each other and shook their heads. They could hear firing from above them as Archangel snipped a few mercs that were trying to make their way to the stair case up to where he was perched. 

"All I know is he better not shoot me, if he does I'm going to have to clip his wings." Just as Shepard said that a round went off from above her, taking her shields down."I'm not going to like this guy one fucking bit." She growled to herself. Her and her team took care the rest of the mercenaries and moved closer to the staircase. Archangel paused and looked through his scope again at the woman who was approaching him with her thick armor and a rocket launcher on her back. Even with her heavy armor she carried her curvy body with grace. Only one person he knew could be that bold. He felt his mouth go dry as if he just drank a glass of sand. Her face was now scared on the cheeks and there was an orange glow forcing its way through the cuts. Like the orange flames that surrounded her on her death-day had filled her body with their power. She could have been man many things, someone could have been masquerading as the dead Shepard, it could have been a machine with her face. But those eyes, those brown eyes that held all of her warmth he knew that could not be faked although there was a menacing glow in them.

They stood in the door way looking at him, he was almost too nervous to turn around. His best friend had been dead for two years and now she come waltzing in. Unaware of the pain that her death had done to him, he suffered her death. He had just ]accepted and come to terms with her demise and there she stood behind him as if she never died in the first place. 

"Archangel?" She asked, her eyes looking over him feeling something familiar about him but she couldn't see his face behind his blue and black helmet. He sat down on the ledge and removed his helmet trying to act normal but inside he was confused, and shocked at her sudden revival. He saw the look on her face as her eyes met his. Her mouth dropped open slightly when she saw his face.  She felt instantly bad with how much crap she just talked only to see her best friend looking at her.

"Garrus!" Her first reaction was to run towards him, she wanted to hug him and squeeze him. But before her inner child took over she controlled herself in fear that it would make her look weak. She cleared her throat and spoke to him trying to hid her excitement.

"Shepard." He said "I thought you were dead..." Garrus uttered, still in shock. 

 "What are you doing here?" She said walking towards him. She could no longer control the need to hug him wrapping her arms around his tiny waist. Garrus slightly jumped back at her touch but she didn't seem to notice letting out a small pleased sigh. 

"Just keeping my skills sharp, a little target practice." He huffed his voice sound tried.

"You okay?" Quinn asked releasing him from her embrace.

Garrus looked at her with an expression she does not think she has ever saw from him, he looks exhausted not just physically, emotionally as well. He lost his bright look that she remembered him having as if he lost his innocence. 

"Been better. But it sure is good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard work, especially on my own." He sighed.

"We're here now, yer' not alone anymore." Quinn said as she touched his shoulder softly with her hand. Garrus reached up and stroked her small hand with his talon.

"I'm glad." He said softly to her. Quinn decided not to ask him how he got in such a situation, figuring she should rather wait until she could talk to him one on one.

"Not to cut this reunion short but we have other issues to attended to." Miranda cut from behind them. Shepard rolld her eyes and nodded and removed her hand from Garrus's shoulder.

"Yeah like getting out of here." Jacob added as he looked out on the mercs that were making their way towards the lofted snippers nest.

"Psh. It's nothing we can't handle, we got here with little effort." Shepard scuffed, never lacking ego. There was a loud explosion and the room quivered under them. Shepard almost lost her balance. "What the hell was that?" She asked looking around.

"Damn it. They've breached the lower level. Well, they had to use their brains eventually. You'd better get down there, Shepard. I'll keep the bridge clear." Garrus grunted as he looked down on his Omni-Tool. Shepard shook her head and them put her hands on her hips.

"Okay, we'll split up in to two's. Me and Miranda will go down there and pop some merc skulls and you and Jacob will take um' out from up here." Quinn said as she grabbed her shot gun and cocked it.

"Maybe I should come with you-" Jacob started to say but Shepard cut him off.

"I gave you an order officer." She barked. "Keep Garrus alive until I return, if anything happens to him I'll be holding you responsible." Quinn said as her and Miranda left for the lower level.

"You seem to be close to her." Jacob said as he aimed and head shot a merc.

"Is that an issue?" Garrus grunted. He lifted his snipper rifle and popped off two mercs swiftly.

"No, not at all." Jacob retracted. They don't speak to each other after that and Garrus would not have had it any other way. The only human he really wanted to be bothered with was Shepard.

Quinn and Miranda had only been gone for a few moments, making swift work of killing the Blood Pack that had tried to make their way towards the upper level, they blocked them by closing the shutter doors in the basement. They both were back in the room and Quinn was again next to him.

"That was easy." She said running her hand through her black wild hair trying to get the random stands out of her face.

"Only Blue Suns left right?" She said.

"Tarak's got the toughest group, but nothing we haven't faced before." He said just then there was a booming noise and a large gun ship appeared in front of the window.

"Archangel!" A voice from the gun craft yells, there are gun shots raining towards them. Quinn runs for cover behind a couch but Garrus has no time to do the same, he was still in the line of fire. The bullets slamming in to him as he hits the floor. He leaned up only to be shot directly in the face.

"Garrus!" Shepard yelped but she had to leave him to fight off the on-slot.

After all of the mercs had been killed Shepard dropped her gun and ran over to him hitting the ground with her knees, she quivered at seeing his blue inky blood that was leaving his body at an alarming rate. She lifted up his head up to stop him from choking on his own blood that he was coughing on. Her hands sopping wet with his blood and she was shaking. 

"Garrus..." Quinn uttered her voice trembled. 

He was still for moment until he heard the faint sound of her heart racing behind her armor chest plate. He opened his eyes and let out a gurgling gasp for air. Jacob and Miranda looked at each other in shock this was not the Shepard they were used to - it was the first time they saw her tender and caring to anyone.

"Garrus, hold on!" She said softly. "Radio Joker; make sure they're ready for us. He looks bad."

* * *

 

Quinn Shepard was not a woman that showed her emotions, her crew had started to believe she was numb to feeling. But that misconception was blown away when their commander's cold exterior had fell apart when Garrus was hurt and fighting to stay alive.

"Move out of the fucking way!" Shepard yelled at her crew that was gathering around as the medical team tried to get Garrus to the sick bay. She had his blood all over her, on her chest plate, on her face and even some of it had seeped in to her gloves. The blood was dripping off the gurney and leaving a trail of blue blood on the ship's floors.

"Shepard he is going in to shock!" Miranda yelled, Quinn did not react to her second in charge she just kept pace with the gurney her small hand griping his talon. They made it to Medical and Dr. Chakwas met them at the door and they got him in. Shepard went to step in, but Chakwas stopped her .

"Commander, we'll take care of him." Chakwas said in a comforting voice to Quinn who was a nervous wreck. Shepard nodded and looked past the doctor and could see the team trying to control Garues bleeding.

"I trust you doctor..." Quinn said as she stepped from the door and it closed with a hiss. The privacy curtain came down on the Med-bay windows, and Quinn was left to worry about her best friend. She stood there her hands pressed against the glass although she could not see anything, her hand leaving blue bloodly hand prints on the glass. 

"Commander..." She heard behind her. Quinn turned around and saw Miranda she looked worried about Shepard and did not have her normal cold expression. Shepard glanced around and saw that most of the crew was staring at her. She did not want to look weak, but she could feel tears pooling in her eyes but she had too much pride to let them fall in front of these new group of people. They could not even understand the bond she had with her old team - and he was apart of it.

"Come on." Miranda said leading Shepard to her office. "You need to rest." Quinn sat down in the office on the couch and put her head in her hands and sniffled and tried her best to hide that she was crying.

"You have any alcohol?" Quinn asked.

"Yes, I sure do. I have vodka is that alright?" Miranda said reaching under her desk and pulling out a glass and filling it.

"Whatever." Shepard uttered taking the glass and drinking all of it in one glup. She handed the glass back over to Miranda, and she filled it once more. "Fuck." Shepard uttered as she finished her second glass.

"Commander, You might want to thoroughly wash the Turian's blood off of your skin. You have a 1 in 20 chance of having an adverse reaction to the acid that is contained in Turian body fluids." EDI said in a mothering voice.

"One in twenty? I'll take the chance..."

"Yes, commander." EDI said her voice disappearing from the room. Shepard sat on the couch with the empty glass in her hand as she stared off in to nothingness. Thinking what she would do if he died.

"Shepard, you feeling a little better?" Miranda asked. There was silence for a moment and then Shepard let out a sigh.

"I will be when I know he is okay." Quinn said looking down on the floor.

"There seems to be a lot of love between both of you, he is lucky to have a friend like you." Miranda said talking the glass out of Shepard's hand and then refilling it.

"You sound surprised, is that because I'm a good friend or I'm a close friend to a Turian?" Quinn said with slight venom in her voice. Miranda paused for a moment and then handed the glass over to her commander.

"To be honest, both. When I first met you well... for real after you had woken up, I did not think there was a nurturing bone in your body. I thought you had ran your previous team to the grid iron not caring about any personal issues they might have. But that all changed when I saw the look in your eyes when you held him and told him it would all be alright. To be quite honest me and Jacob were flood. I did not think you had such compassionate heart.  " Miranda told as she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "And he's a Turian its obvious that Humans and Turians are not on the best terms with each other."

Shepard stood up and made her way towards the door. "I care about him not because of his race but because he is a good person, he is just as good as any human on this ship. Hell, I bet his is better then most humans in general. Now if you would excuse me, I have to go." She said leaving Miranda's office.

Commander Shepard made her way to her cabin as soon as the door closed behind her she started to undress out of her armor. Her body aced and the blood that had seeped through her gloves had stained her palms a dark shade of blue. She made her way to the bath room and washed herself off just as she started to relax EDI's voice came through her bath room speaker.

"Commander, there has been an update in Garrus's condition. Operative Taylor would like to speak with you in the debriefing room."

"Alright." She said jumping out of the shower and drying off as quickly as possible she threw on her casual clothing and made her way to the elevator, the ride seemed to take forever. "Jacob." She said entering the room looking at him with worry. "It better be good news." She said as she put her hands on the  table.

"Commander, we've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit." Jacob started say and Shepard lowered her head. "The doc's corrected what she can with surgical procedures and some cybernetics. Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality, but.." His voice taped off just as the door hissd open, and there Garrus stood. The side of his face had been mangled, there was a protective covering that possibly hid the cybernetics that was under it. A few layers of his rock hard skin on his mandible and cheek were pretty much gone.

"Shepard." He said trying not to agitate his wound too much. Jacob said something about him being up so soon, but she did not really pay attention to him. All she saw was Garrus, her eyes looking over his scars he looked like he grew up. Maybe it was in his armor but he seemed little taller and broader. 

"Nobody would give me a mirror. How bad is it?" Garrus asked her.

"Hell Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face-paint on there and no one will even notice." She said jokingly with a chuckle at the end of her sentence. Garrus let out a laugh that rattled through his throat his voice filling the room.

"Don't make me laugh damn it. My face is barely holding together as it is. Some women find facial scars attractive. Mind you, most of those women are Krogan..." He noted, Jacob excused himself from the room leaving Garrus and Shepard alone. He walks over towards her her and grabbed her in to a tight hug.  He held her there for a moment before letting her go.

"Ouch..." She said as she reached up and hovered her thin fingers above his scars. "That looks like it hurts like hell..." 

"Frankly, I'm more worried about you. Cerberus, Shepard? You do remember those sick experiments Cerberus were doing?" Shepard pulled her hand way from his face scared that she would touch him mistake and cause pain.

"I guess I'm one of those sick experiments, right." Shepard said her voice partially joking. "They would not spend over four billion credits to bring me back for no reason. I'm sure of it..." Garrus let out a ground and then put his talon on her shoulder.

"I'm doing this for you. Not them."

"It's good to have you back Garrus." She said happy to have a true friend with her. "Hey, dude...let's get drunk." She said as she playfully tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sounds like a plan to me." He laughed back as they left the room.

* * *

 

"Commander, it is 0900 hours and your crew mates are waiting for you in the debriefing room for today's meeting." Shepard grunted at the sound of EDI's bodiless voice, she peeked her eyes open. Maybe catching up with Garrus over a few too many drinks was not the best idea. Her head felt like she had stuck it in a vice.

"Ughhhh. Tell them to hold it, I'll be there in a few." She said getting out of bed and entering the bath room.

"Yes, Commander." EDI said. Shepard quickly showered and got dressed. She shuffled out of her Captains Cabin. She stopped at the Crew Deck to and get her normal cup of black coffee and then made her way towards the debriefing room.

"Hello, Commander!" Yeoman Kelly Chambers said over flowing with early morning excitement. "You seemed to be having a lot of fun with Garrus last night." She said with a smile.

" Are you implying something, yeoman?" Shepard said with a raised eyebrow.

"No of course not! I just have never seen you that happy before." Kelly reworded trying not to get on her commander's bad side. Shepard let out a scuff at Kelly's words and sipped her coffee. "I just want to give him a hug and tell him everything will be alright." Kelly added. Shepard looked up from her coffee mug at Kelly and narrowed her eyes. The expression that struck her face insistently told Kelly that she had over stepped some boundaries.

"Yeoman, I would appreciate it if you left Garrus alone. He has been through a lot I don't think he needs a human woman complicating things for him." She spat her voice containing venom. Kelly's face grew red as she nodded her head.

"...I'm sorry, it's clear that you two are very close." Kelly said as she went back over to her station. Shepard sighed and sipped her coffee and continued on her way to the debriefing room. "To day is starting off to be perfect." She uttered to herself already agitated, she was hung over and now her Yeoman was going to act like a sixteen year old girl because she told her to stay clear of her best friend. Did she even have the right to say that? Was that an abuse of power? She thought as the door to the debriefing room hissed open.

"Where have you been?" Miranda barked as soon as Shepard walked in.

"XO, who do you think you are talking to?" Shepard flared. "Cut the fuckin' attitude Miranda I'm in no mood."

"We have been waiting her for almost a half hour." Miranda snapped. Jacob shook his head and let out a sigh. Both of them fought like alley cats in heat.

"Who the hell put you in charge? Right, no one. So fall in line or you can get the hell off of my ship!" Shepard's anger boiled over as she yelled at Miranda. Garrus looked over at Shepard and placed his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. She was livid, he had never seen her snap like that. She took a deep breath and started to speak.. "We are already docked here at Omaga, so business here will clearly be handled first we will be recruiting the Salarian professor, Mordin." She said looking at dossier list.

"I think we should have went for him first, he could have already been doing research on the Collectors." Miranda had to add, Shepard looked up and her and tightened her full lips her mouth ready to come back at Miranda but before she could she heard Garrus's deep voice speak for her.

"I'm sorry I was under the impression that Shepard was the Commander on this ship." He spoke, as he looked at Miranda and folded his arms. His words made Shepard chuckle, and Miranda crossed her arms and sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes.

"As I was saying, we had planed on recruiting 'Archangel' and...". She paused and had to hold in a small laugh at his silly nickname. "..And The Professor all in one trip, but of course I did not anticipate 'Archangel' being Garrus and him taking a missile to the face." She joked as she nudged Garrus in the side, they both chuckled.

"If I may..." Miranda started, as soon as she opened her mouth Shepard stopped laughing and was prepared to shot down what ever Miranda had to say. Garrus noticed the scowl that shot across her brow as her smile faded. "I believe me and Jacob should accompany you this time, I'm not sure if Garrus is fit for duty." She simply said.

"That will be my Gunnery Chief's call." Shepard said as she looked over to at Garrus.

"I'm fit for duty whenever you need me Commander." He states as he put his hand on her shoulder.


	3. The Good Doctor

She looked so different in her armor, almost unstoppable. She was a powerhouse of strength and what he guessed would be human beauty, he wasn't really sure. Garrus stared at her, he still can't believe she was alive it was like looking at a walking corpse. His mind struggled to understand how someone could simply come back from the dead like she did. He knew that Cerberus spent two years and billions of credits putting her back together but it was still shocking. They made their way to the entrance of the quarantine zone; a Turian stopped them at the sealed door.

"I can't let you go in there, miss." The Turian said to another human woman who is fussing about needing to get her things out of the ward. Shepard cleared her throat and put her hands on her hips and lifted her perfectly arched eyebrow at him.

"Yeah. I need to get in there." She said pointing at the door.

"I can't let you in. Blue Suns have the whole area sealed off, and anyway the pledge kills everything." He stated.

"Not humans, you ass hole." The other woman argued.

"I need to find a Salarian doctor." Quinn said, he was starting to annoy her.

"Yeah. That crazy son of a bitch is in there. Apparently he is working on a cure." Shepard paused for a moment before speaking.

"Garrus, head back to the Normandy. Tell Miranda to meet us here, I don't want you catching what ever is in there." She ordered not turning to look at him.

"No, Commander. I'm staying I'm, sure we will find the doctor and he can take care of me if I do catch anything. And anyway you know you would rather have me here then Miss Lawson." He said from behind her causing her to chuckle slightly.

"Come on, Miranda is not-that bad..." Jacob said as if he is trying to convince even himself of the fact somewhat. Garrus just looked at him and shook his head.

"Have it your way, Garrus. But I don’t want to hear you cough or I’m going to have to say, “I told you so." Shepard shrugged, although he can tell she is bothered by him coming along.

"Um...I still can't let you in there." The turian at the door said looking confused. Suddenly Shepard grabbed him by his shirt and snatched him. His eyes widened with shock at her actions.

"Open the fucking door." Shepard hissed narrowing her glowing eyes at the young Turian; She didn’t have to tell him the same thing twice. He nodded his head quickly and she let him go.

"I'll...I'll radio them and let them know you are comin' in.." He shuddered moving out of their way as the door hissed open.

* * *

 

There is the crackle of burning flesh in the dark ward.  Quinn covered her nose partly as she glanced around. There are a few Turian bodies lying on the ground not far from them.

"You think it's true. Commander? That humans are the only ones that don't get sick." Jacob asked pulling out his pistol.

"Not sure." Shepard uttered glancing over at Garrus as if she is checking up on him.

"I'm fine." Garrus grunted, but that was a lie. He was starting to feel a little warm but he did not want to tell her that. There is a cough to the right of them. There was a dying Batarian on the ground only having the support of the wall to keep him up right. He cursed at them, spewing anti-human hate. Using his last breath to say the humans are the reason for the pledge. Shepard loomed over the dying Batarian.

"He's not going to live much longer..." Jacob spoke. But Shepard just looked at the Batarian as he gasped and then the light left his multiple eyes.

"Why would I help a person who uses their last breath to speak hate? Besides he wouldn’t have lasted anyway." She kept walking down the street. Garrus silently agreed with his Commanders choice, but it's clear that Jacob was bothered by it.

A few gunshots ring out around them. The three of them made swift work of them, taking care of the Blue Suns they came across. Garrus started to feel a bit dizzy; he rubbed his forehead only to realize that he was starting to run a fever.

 _'Fantastic',_ he thought to himself.

Just then there is a group of Blood Pack members right in their path. He could see the clinic sign just past them.

 _'Just a little farther, Garrus. Come on'_. 

He tried to hold himself to get there but he could barely aim. Shepard ducked for cover right next to him; she glanced over at his shacking hands as he tried to steady his arm. She quickly lifted her gun and took out the merc he was going for

“I told you so, you stubborn ass.” Shepard said with a smile as she helped him up.

They entered the clinic stopping in a back room were there is a Salarian doctor who was talking rather fast, going on and on about something. He glanced over at the three of them his large eyes landing Garrus and then looking down to his Omni-Tool. The doctor gave him an injection.

"Turian physiology resilient with simple immunobooster, should be fine now." He said but then stares at him and then scans him once more withthe Omni-Tool. "No, wait. Disease cured, something else? Hummm?" Mordin said with out a pause rubbing his chin.  Shepard starts to explain her mission to him and why it is important that he join.

"Mission, no must distribute cure to pledge." Mordin fusses and he walks around his workstation, his hands behind his back.

"Nothing, is ever easy is it?" Shepard mumbled to herself knowing the doctor was going to need her help with distributing the cure. There is a noise as the Life Support goes down.

"You must get the Life Support fans up and running again and then instate the air born cure." Mordin said suddenly as he hands the vile that contains the cure over to Shepard.

The doctor said Vorcha would be in the area and he was right, they had taken down the Life Support system and were working for the Collectors.

 "Fuck...I knew the Vorcha were stupid but to team up with the Collectors?" She said getting up the last fan. It had been an easy run for them, nothing too demanding but she still wished a recruitment could be quick.

_“Hey I’m going up against the collectors they are kid napping humans. I need you on the team.”_

_“Okay, glad to help.”_

But no, it never went like that.

"Collector's make us strong." Garrus said making fun of the simple minded Vorcha. Shepard and him both laughed as they made there way back to the clinic. Mordin speaks swiftly about how he as to finish up some last work and then he will met them on the Normandy.

"Well Welcome to the team, Mordin. I hope you are as good as they say you are." She said shaking his hand before turning and walking out for the clinic door. "Come on boys, I think we owe our self a drink or two.”

* * *

 

"Have you been drinking again, Commander?" Miranda asked as she looked over at Shepard. Quinn glances over at Garrus who twitched his mandibles and tried not to laugh. Jacob just shook his head and look away not wanting to get in the mist of their daily catfights.

"Oh come on, Miranda! Who are you my mother?" Quinn fussed  throwing her hands in the air. "I just had a few drinks with Garrus and Jacob for the fantastic job we did with getting Mordin. I mean we earned it."

"It is unprofessional." Miranda said folding her arms and tapping her foot on the polished floor.

"You're just mad you had to stay here and miss all the fun." Shepard laughed back. "Come on, we are docked for the night it's not like I had been drinking right before a part of the mission."

"My records indicate that Shepard's alcohol intake in the last week has been-"

"Shove it EDI!" Shepard yelled at the ships AI. Miranda shook her head at her Commander and left the debriefing room in a huff.

"She's going to go tell on you." Garrus snickered as they all exit the room. Jacob heading to his normal post in the Armory, while Shepard and Garrus entered the elevator.

"She's been riding me since I got on this ship." Shepard grunted as she pulled her ponytail holder out of her hair and shook her hair out. The smell of her shampoo wafting through the small elevator and in to Garrus's sensitive nose.

"What is that smell?" Garrus's rumbled leaning in closer to her.

"It's an artificial smell of a earth flower called lilac." She said as the elevator stopped on her deck. The door opened and she stepped out and glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Night Garrus."

"Goodnight, Commander." He spoke right before the elevator door shut again. Leaving her odd smell behind with him. He sniffed the air, "Lilac..."


	4. Tank Born

"Commander we’ve arrived at Korlus." Joker’s voice said over the speaker. Everyone in the debriefing room looked over at Shepard waiting to hear who would be in the Shore Party.

"Garrus and Mordin, your on this." Quinn to the both of them before turning to leave the room. The three of them left the door hissing behind them. Jacob and Miranda stood there for a second before she let out a sigh and spoke.

"She has taken him everywhere since he got here." Miranda said folding her arms.

"You have to see it from her point of view, Miranda. He was there when she fought Saran and saved the Citadel. Of course he is going to be the only one she trusts right now." Jacob nodded as he leaned against the table.

"I just wish she would give me a chance." She uttered as she shifted her weight. Jacob looked down and shook his head.

"Lighten up a tiny bit and maybe she will." He said before he left the room.

* * *

 

"Shit" Shepard ducked to take cover, her hair a matted mess - sticking to her forehead. Tank born reject Krogans .Where _just_ what she needed in her life, she huffed as she dropped the last two that were in her way.

"Mercs!" Garrus yelled from behind her. She charged forward taking them out swiftly as she reacheed a metal staircase. More mercs blocked them but like the others the three of them make short work of them. Dr. Okeer is in the next room, and knew they were coming for him. He begain to speak but Shepard eyes wonder over to a tank containing another Krogan.

"That's one big mother fucker." Shepard uttered looking at what the doctor called “The Tank Born”.

"He is pure Krogan." Okeer said stepping next to her and looking at the creature proudly. "My life's work." Shepard crossed her arms and looks at the doctor and then back to the tank.

"Well, then doctor. Are you ready to leave? We’ll take you’re life’s work with us.” She said right before hearing the Blue Suns leader, Jadore over the speakers her voice accompanied with a hiss from the ventilation vents above. As soon as the air hit the room it was obvious it was toxic gas causing all of them to start choking.

"Okeer! We have to go now!" Quinn demanded, but the doctor is still.

"I will stay, I have something’s I must do. Take care of Jadore first." He said with an unwavering and calm. Shepard paused and gritted her teeth not wanting to leave the doctor, thinking of the mission first and her own life second. Her and her team left the Krogan to fin himself. Knowing that they had to take out Jadore and her Krogan slaves before they could leave. Shepard focused on the Krogans that are charging while Garrus and Mordin took out the heavy mech. Jadore was the only one left, she was nothing difficult for Shepard to take out, one well placed shot in the head and it was over.

"We have to get back to Okeer in time!" Quinn said as she run up the stairs as fast as she could, only to see his dead body as she entered the room. "God damn it!" She paced the room for a moment rubbing the side of her head. "All that technology lost."

"Commander, we could take the Tank Born and study it. It was after all was made with Collector tech." Mordin said, looking down at his Omni-Tool. Garrus looks over at Shepard, he has never seen her so frustrated, her thin eyebrows wrinkle as Mordin suggestion. He could tell she was more upset about failing her mission then she was about Okeer's death. Quinn Shepard did not fail anything; she took her pride very seriously.

"All I need is a fucking baby Krogan." She grunted as she looked up at the tank and sucked her teeth. She put her hand to her com-link "Joker. Okeer is a no go. But we have a package that needs to be picked up...and his a big one."

* * *

 

Garrus knew she was upset, how she stayed silent on the shuttle ride back and how as soon as they docked she went straight to the elevator and to her quarters. Normally after a mission she would do her rounds and talk to the crew but not this time. She did not want to face anyone. She tapped on her terminal searching the ExtraNet aimlessly and let out a sigh.

"Commander. Garrus is requesting entrance in to your quarters. Should I let him in?" EDI's calming voice asked.

"Sure." Quinn said turning towards the opening door. He stood there dressed in his casual clothing holding a plate. His mandibles shifted as he smiled at her. '

 _Man, his waist is tiny...'_ she thought as her eyes look over him.

"You have been in here all day so I thought I would bring you something to eat." He said sweetly, entering the room, the door closing behind him. "Personally it looks and smells disgusting to me but I hear it's a human favorite." Shepard smiled at the dish that Garrus had brought her.

"Mmm Spaghetti." She uttered as she took the plate out of his hands. "Thank you. I appreciate that. Please sit down." Shepard motioned towards the couch, Garrus nodded. They both sat down, Quinn was already munching on her food even before her bottom made contact with the couch. He watched her eat, the way her strange fleshy lips moved as she removed the noodles from the fork. Her short pink thick tongue that licked a bit of sauce off the corner of her mouth. It was so bazaar to watch her, everything about Shepard was interesting to him, he just wanted to study her. None of the other humans he had ever met intrigued him like she did. "What?" She asked suddenly noticing his gaze.. He quickly looked away from her.

"Nothing just zoned out." Garrus grunted awkwardly.

"Garrus? Can I ask you something?" Shepard asked, putting her cleaned off plate down on the table. She shifted her weight as she sunk in to the couch.

"You can ask me anything, Quinn." Garrus smiled as best as he could.

"What happened after I died? With the crew and everything, it's just been bothering me since I woke up.” Her shoulders slumped and she rubbed her face. “The last thing I remember was getting Joker to a transport shuttle and then there was an explosion. I heard a hiss and my oxygen hose had been punctured...I tried to stop the air from escaping by grabbing it but of course it didn’t work. I remember the pain as suffocated - and then two years later I wake up on a table at a Cerberus base." Garrus was silent for a moment imaging suffocating in the vacuum of space, it must have been horrific. He took a deep breath and started to talk.

"...The guilt of leaving you on the Normandy haunted me, there was not a day that I did not carry the weight of that with me. After the Normandy exploded our shuttle was still in sight range, there was so much wreckage. We had thought you got out safe...until Tali screamed and started yelling that she saw you out there. We all looked and saw you, you were struggling-"Garrus paused and tightened his jaw. "But then you stopped and were life less. You don't know how many times that image has played in my mind on loop, over and over again. It's burned in my memory. There was nothing to numb that pain that I felt…”Quinn swallowed and looked at him. “The shuttles took us to the nearest Alliance planet and when we got there they declared you dead and three days later they had your funeral and we buried an empty coffin.” He chuckled bitterly. “The funeral was just a bunch of people blaming each other for what happened to you. Joker was a mess of course he felt it was all his fault..." Garrus looked down on the floor. "Me and Kaidan got in to a huge fight, he blamed me for what happened."

"What?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah. He went on and on that you would have listened to me more then anyone because you were close to me.” Garrus could still hear Kaidan’s voice in his head. “That if I had tried harder I would have been able to convince you to leave the ship. Yeah, that fucking asshole blamed me, it was all my fault, even though he also had the chance to get you off the Normandy." Shepard raised her eyebrows at his course language when it came to the ex-member of their team.

"No one would have made me do anything. I gave you an order that day and you followed it. I gave him the same order. No one is responsible for what happened to me." She said as she scooted closer to Garrus.

"Yeah but none the less, his words chewed at me. And I said something’s that were very nasty to him and it almost boiled over in to a physical fight but Anderson stopped it. After that I left and went back to C-Sec and tried to be normal." He grunted to himself as he recalled his memories "I remember there was this advertisement for the Alliance it was right out side my office, they used your image to try and get young people to join, using you as a tragic icon romanticizing being with the Alliance. That ad ran everyday at the same time, and when it did your image would look in my direction, smile and salute. It really bothered me." Garrus rubbed his forehead. "The last straw was when they started covering things up everything you had done, saying that Sovereign was not a Reaper but a Geth ship - I could not take that shit any more and I left and went to Omega where I tried to be you. I got a team together and tried to bring justice and fight the good fight...but...I failed..." Shepard took her hand and placed it lightly on his knee and looked at him. Her face written with sadness that he’s never seen. "You were my teacher, my friend, my hero and when you died I could not think no do anything but try to emulate you, but I was useless." He finished and then looked at her, surprised to see that there were tears pooling behind her glowing eyes that still had a hint of the natural brown color. She sniffled and a few of those tears feel down her cheeks.

Garrus had never seen her cry ever, not even when Ashley was killed. He was sure she did that day but hid it from everyone. She was too hard to cry in front of anyone but him. He felt honored she wound trust him with her feelings. She reached up and pulled him in tot a tight hug. Her body felt so warm against him. Shepard was so soft and fleshy to him. Garrus didn’t know what he expected her to feel like, but her frailness was surprising. Humans were all soft curves and no plates but to him Quinn was more then human.

Quinn reached her hand up and stroked the sensitive leathery skin that was under his fringe. Garrus could not help but to let out a low rumble as she touched him, but he did his best to control himself. He knew it was not what it felt like and that Shepard did not know the sexual implications of touching behind Turian's fringe. She released him from her hug and then pulled back and cleared the tears from her face.

"You better not tell anyone that I cried. If you do I will break your arm." She sniffled. He knew she was only partly joking but there was an undertone of seriousness under her voice.

"It will be our little secret." He could still feel her body heat even though she was not making contact with him anymore.

"So Kaidan and you got in to it, huh?" Shepard asked, curious about the situation. Garrus grunted and tightened his mandibles; she could tell it was a touchy subject.

"Yeah. I said some really mean things to him that I shouldn’t have." Garrus exhaled and stoked his forehead again with his talon knowing she was going to ask what he said. "I kind of told him that, he was not the right man for you and you always deserved better." Shepard raised her eyebrow at him. "But I only said that kind of stuff because he made me so mad..." He waited for Shepard to scold him; surly she was going to be upset with him. There was a pause, Garrus could not even bring him self to look at her.

"Deserve better? Ha! You make it sound like me and Kaidan had something special." Shepard said with a laugh. He looked at her, he was puzzled. He thought they _did_ have something special...”Why are you so shocked by that?" She asked not liking the expression on his face. "Did he say we had something together?"

"Yeah, he did. He would go on and on about how he...how he _loved_ you." Garrus spoke, her mouth hung half way open, she could not believe what he just told her.

"What! Loved me? What the hell we only fucked once...and it was not even that good." Quinn explained all the while shaking her head.

"...Really? To hear him talk about it you two were in love." He blinked.

"Ha! No, not even close. Right before Ilos..."She stopped talking unsure if she wanted to share this with him, worried it would make her look bad. "I-I needed it. I had to...blow off some steam." Shepard sat back and said. "I used him...just for that..."

"Quinn that is horrible." Garrus chuckled.

"Listen, I’m not proud of it, it was a sleazy thing to do but, I mean who else was I gonna do? He was my only option." She laughed. Her question made him think about all the other men on the ship.

"There's always Joker." He said.

"Garrus you are not even funny." Shepard shakes her head at his ridiculous suggestion.

"Well your best option was right in front of you and you did not even know." His mandibles widen as he grinned. "It's clear that I'm the best looking man on the Normandy then and now." It is clear in his tone that he is just playing with Shepard but there is something in his rumbling voice that makes her question the possibility of such a thing.

"Would that even work?" She asked, her mind trying to imagine such a thing.

"I'm not sure." Garrus said eager to change the subject. "So what was so bad about, Kaidan ?"

"He just did not do it for me. He was too sensitive...I guess."

"Ah I see." He said standing up and looking at her. "It's getting late I better go get some rest." He could smell the tension between them, and he needed to get out of there before he did anything that he could regret.

"Yeah your right. I'll see you in the morning." She said standing as well. He nodded as he left the room. The door closed behind him with a hiss. He felt so confused, the way she made him feel when she touched behind his fringe, how warm she was...Garrus let out a sigh as she shook his head and went to the elevator.


	5. Count To 0

Quinn, Garrus and Miranda had gone to the floating prison, Purgatory to retrieve Jack. But of course nothing could go easy for them _ever_. The Warden had planed to capture Shepard and sell her as a slave for a price that would make the Warden rich. Maybe the Warden did not expect Quinn Shepard to be a straight bad-ass. Bullets started to fly right after she had told the Warden to "Go fuck your self. And suck a dick while you are at it."

Shepard and her team destroyed the guards that are blocking them from Jacks cryo-cell. She doesn’t hesitate when she reached the console that would free Jack; she tapped it and watched the cell open a cloud of liquid-nitrogen escapes and they see Jack from the first time.

"That's Jack?" Miranda asked her voice shocked for good reason. As Jack in fact a thin woman with a baldhead and a body covered more with tattoos then clothing. As soon as she opened her eyes she caused chaos by taking out mechs and guards with her strong biotic power that rocked the prison.

“Come on lets get her before she tears this place up." Shepard said. They make their way through the prison more mechs and Blue Suns in their path but most of them don't stand a chance. Shepard pulled forward; she walked past a tall crate and then there is sticking force to the side of her face. She had no idea of what it is but she felt her teeth bite down on her bottom lip, gashing through the soft flesh.

Shepard looks up and her eyes meet a Blue Sun that they must have missed, he had hit her with the butt of his rifle. She stares at him for a split second, blood from the gash running down her face. She licks some of the blood off her lips, the merc has no chance to escape or strike again. Shepard grabs him and wrestles him to the ground. Garrus is surprised at her brute force; him and Miranda just watch as Shepard takes the butt of her shotgun and repeatedly beat the Blue Sun's head in. She’s like an animal; Garrus never thought she had so much rage in side of her. Her actions are so primal, the way her hair sticks to her sweat soaked forehead and how she licks the blood off of her chin. Twenty, Garrus counts twenty blows to the Blue Sun's skull. But he is not dead, he gargles under Shepard trying to breath but there is too much blood filling his nose.

"I already have enough scars on my beautiful face. And you had to go and cost me another huge one, you asshole." She hissed still on top of the merc, the blood staining her blunt teeth. She reached for her pistol. The man chokes as she points her gun at him at point blank range "Go to hell." She said shooting him in the head blowing his brains all over the floor and the crates. Shepard dabs her chin, there is blood dripping off of it and down her chest plate. She got up and kept moving as if it was nothing.

They kept moving and made there way to the end and to the Warden they take care of his guards and Shepard kills him with a bullet to the chest. They find Jack at the docks looking out of the window at the Normandy with a scowl on her surprisingly beautiful face.

"Cerberus. Just what I needed." She said from behind gritted teeth.

"I'm not Cerberus. And I want to get the fuck off this station as bad as you do, Jack. Now get on my ship." Shepard demanded.

"Who the hell do you think you are, bitch?" Jack said taking a step forward, her biotic power glowing on her clinched fist..

"I'm Quinn Marie Fucking Shepard. I came all this way to get you outta' this piss hole, I was almost kidnapped, I fought through waves of Blue Suns, I killed your Warden and I'm bleeding profusely from my mouth. All that shit for you, so that means you are going to get on my ship whether you like it or not." Quinn hissed putting her hands on her ample hips and stepping toward Jack.

"Hum. I like you Shepard; you’re a bad ass. Not as badass me but you’re no pussy. I respect that. I'll make a deal with you; Cerberus has a lot of shit on me. I want access to any files about me." Jack folded her thin arms and said.

"Deal." Shepard did not hesitate. Miranda started to say something but Shepard cut her off. "Miranda, shut up."

"You better not be fucking with me." Jack threatened as they made their way to the Normandy. Shepard laughed as she held her gashed lip.

"You betta’ not fuck with me either, Jack."

* * *

 

"Shep, stop licking it." Garrus said as he accompanied her to the Med-Bay. She tasted the wound, using her tongue as a guide and trying to feel how much damage there was. She held a tissue to her mouth in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He could not get the image of her out of his mind when she killed that merc. There was something about it that was- he could not even find the right word for it, he tried to find a way to define what he thought but he was at a loss. The doors to the Med-Bay opened, Dr. Chakwas glanced over at them from her desk, her eyes landing on the blood stained tissue that Shepard had on her face.

"Commander, what happened?" Chakwas asked as she helped Shepard over to a medical bed.

"I got bashed in the face and I bit my lip." Shepard uttered pulling away the cloth. Chakwas grabbed a pair of gloves and inspected her lip. The doctor frowned as soon as she saw the damage and sighed.

"That does not sound good." Garrus spoke as stood next to Shepard. His eyes looking over at the gash and the blood that was still seeping from it.

"You are bleeding pretty bad." Chakwas uttered as she grabbed a bottle off of the medical table. "I'm going to clean the wound and then I will close it." Shepard just nodded at her words as the doctor applied a clear water like liquid to her mouth. It stung but it was nothing she could not handle. "Alright it seems that stopped most of the bleeding. Alright, Commander. I can close it with a laser that might leave a burn or I can and use do it the old fashion way and stitch it up. Either way you are going to have a scar." Chakwas stated as she walked over to her medical table.

"I would rather have another scar then a burn." Quinn chuckled.

"Stitch it is then." Chakwas nodded as she picked up a med-needle and spool of clear thin black stitching. Garrus watched as Shepard sat still, unflinching it the needle that is being threaded in and out of her flesh. She is fragile yet strong, but his thoughts of her were obviously conflicting. When he watched her turn in to primal animal with nothing but rage and adrenaline rushing through her veins he couldn’t ignore that it did something to. He tried not to think about it, but he could not get it out of his brain.

"There all done. And Shepard please try to be careful next time." Chakwas mothered handing Shepard a mirror. "The stitching will dissolve in about three weeks." Quinn nodded and then looked over her reflection, it did not look that bad after all.

"Thanks doc." She stood up and placed the mirror on the table. Her and Garrus left the Med-Bay walking next to each other." Hey, I'm gonna go wash up and stuff. I gotta talk to Jack also, so I'll see you later." She said as she moved towards the elevator raising her hand and waving slightly.

"Yeah, I have calibrations to do as well. I'll see you later, Commander." He nodded. She got on the elevator and left him on the Crew Deck. Garrus grunted as he made his way to the Main Battery. He let out a groan as he looked at his console. He started his calibrations but then he started to feel his mind start to wander, he could not focus on anything. He was restless.

"Damn it." Garrus grunted as he wondered from his work and on to the Extra-Net. He hesitated, paranoid that somehow someone was going to know what he was looking up but his talons finally typed the words 'Human female body language.' He searched some of the information, a few vids came up he watched some. He wanted to understand her, every move she made. He was unsure but he thought felt some tension between him and her. Humans were so confusing. He sprawled the Extra-Net for more information on her kind. Truian woman were not hard to read, if they had intentions with a male they showed it, but from what he found Human woman liked to feel things out.

"Ah, fuck." He mumbled giving up on he’s 'research' and going to the Fornax website.


	6. Horizon

"Hey, Garrus!" Shepard said, as she walked in the Main Battery. Garrus finished typing and then tuned towards her. He was shocked at what she was dressed in; it was a black long sleeved short dress with a rather low neckline. His eyes widened as he looked at her body, the tight dress hugging every curve she had. His eyes skimmed down towards her fleshy legs. She had so much squishy soft skin; he could not help but wonder what it felt like when it was bare.

"Playing dress up in Miranda's outfits I see." He said, snickering. Shepard tapped her foot on the floor, her black high heels making soft clinks on the polished metal of the floor.

"No. This is mine." She hissed. Garrus looked at her again. He had never noticed how smooth her brown skin looked. "I don't live in my armor, I wanted to be a woman for a day...It does not help me feel feminine when I'm running around all the time in bulky armor and Miranda dressed in a sexy cat suit. So I thought I would look nice for a change." She said, explaining her fashion choice of the day. Garrus was listening but he found himself staring at the bumps that sat on her chest. Turian woman did not have those, and he had never seen so much of Shepard's. Both of the mounds pushed together causing a crease in the center of her chest. She did not seem to notice, or maybe she did and decided not to say anything to him. He looked away from her breast and finally up to her face.

"Well I'm sure your choice of clothing today caused some distractions." Garrus looked back down on his terminal, seemingly checking his calibrations.

"Not really, Kelly said she liked it." Shepard exclaimed, feeling rather good about her accomplishment that she had gotten her new outfit on sale for only fifty five credits.

"I bet some of the men on this ship are talking about how sexy you look." Garrus said, as he tapped on his terminal, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. His mandibles tightening when he realized what he had just confessed.

"Do you think it's sexy? I mean I don't think Turian woman wear short dresses, do they?" Shepard asked. Garrus froze and wondered what he was going to say, it was a confusing mix of a 'yes' and 'no'. He could see more of her body now and he was interested in it, he wanted to explore it but also it was so alien and bazaar. Her meaty skin was something brand new to him.

"Shepard I-" He started to say but then Joker's voice cut through the intercom.

"Commander! Urgent message from the Illusive Man. Patching him through to the debriefing room." Shepard and Garrus look at each other; they both knew this was going to be an important part of the mission...

* * *

 

"This is my first mission with you people and you bring me here?" Jack yelled, as they looked towards the Collector ship that hung in distance. Shepard gulped as she looked at the ship, she could feel her hands shaking.

 _Hold it together, Quinn..._ she thought to herself but was so full of fear she thought she was going to vomit all over her suit.

"Jack you're a badass, you can handle it." She replied to the biotic, as she started to walk forward. There was no one but the three of them. Just Jack, Garrus, and herself. It was eerie, she wondered if they had gotten taken or if they had fled, she hoped it was the latter. Up ahead she saw something, Collectors. Tall, thin, insect looking creatures. They had no faces and there was nothing to distinguish one from another. They only had four round yellow eyes. "Let's kill them before they even knew what fucking hit 'um." Shepard said, dunking under cover. The Collectors were strong with high shields and advanced weapons, but she knew her and her team were better. They dropped the first wave of Collectors with no issue, but she knew the first of it had just begun.

"Come on we gotta' keep moving." She said, but got distracted by Garrus calling out to her so suddenly.

"Commander! You have to see this." Garrus was standing over by a lump covered in a red haze that Shepard could not make out what it was until she was a little closer.

"Holy shit." Jack exclaimed, disgusted. "It's a colonist." Shepard covered her mouth out of shock, in front of them was a woman lying on the ground, frozen. Her eyes were moving, and she was alive and conscious.

"Well we know now how they take their humans..." She said, waving her Omni-Tool in front of the victim and downloading some data to upload to the Normandy. "Nothing we can do for her." Shepard said sadly, continuing past the woman, Jack and Garrus following after.

There were more Collectors up a head as they continue to fight. Dropping them one after the other but they kept coming. Shepard was just about to take one out when there was a voice that came out of nowhere, none of them were sure of which direction it came from but the message was clear.

" _Assuming direct control."_

One of the Collectors stopped and then glowed with a yellow light from under its skin. It was stronger than anything she had ever faced. It started its assault on her and her team. Shepard ducked for cover but was thrown back by the creature's biotic attack. She hit the ground with a loud thud, but she quickly got up and switched her weapon.

"What the fuck is that thing!" Jack yelled, trying to get closer. The monster tried to advance but was taken out by a well-placed headshot by Garrus.

" _You have only delayed the inevitable."_

"Fuck that thing." Jack said, as they walk past its body, hacking and spitting on it on her way.

There was a door blocking them, Quinn hacked it opened easily. It was a dim room, but there was a huge locked door on the other side. Before she took another step she knew there was someone hiding there. She pulled out her pistol just in case.

"We're not alone." She grunted, just then a man looked from behind a few boxes.

"You're human.." He said, sounding surprised. "They came and took everyone...It was horrible." He put his hands on his head and paced. "What the hell are those things!"

"They were Collectors." Shepard answered, not beating around the bush as she switched and checked over her weapons.

"Collectors? I thought that they were made up...shit everything was fine until they placed that Alenko here and those defense towers...that's what started this mess." He rambled, Garrus stiffening up as soon as the man mentioned Alenko's name.

"Listen I would love to stay here and chat but I need you to open that door so I can take care of this shit." Shepard said, stepping towards him aggressively. Garrus was relieved that Quinn did not ask about Alenko, it seemed she did not care at all that he was on Horizon.

"Alright I'll open the door. But I'm locking it as soon as you leave." The man said, looking down to his Omni-Tool and activating some keys. The door opened with a hiss and closed behind them as they stepped past it and walk towards the center of the colony.

"EDI, I'm going to check out these deference towers. I need you to scan them and see if they could be useful against that Collector ship." Shepard said, putting her hand up to her ear piece and communicating with the Normandy's AI.

"Yes, Commander but it will take time." EDI responded, curtly.

"We'll defend the tower, but make it quick." Quinn ordered, but just as soon she finished talking to EDI, a wave of Husks headed towards them.

"Defend the tower at all costs!" Shepard yelled to her team, as she blasted Husk after Husk with her shotgun. Collectors swarmed in quickly, but they kept pace. Jack used her powerful biotics to knock them off their feet and Garrus taking them out with a well-placed concussive shot or headshot after.

"It is almost complete, Commander. But I would recommend that you keep your weapons out, there are more incoming." EDI advised.

"Fuck!" Shepard yelled loudly, out of pure frustration. She looked ahead and saw something like it was cut from a nightmare. It hung in the sky as if it was looking at them, glowing blue and what seemed to be Husks skulls on the side of it. Its spiny legs twitching as it suddenly came towards her, excreting a particle beam directly at her. As soon as it touched her, it depleted her shields. It clipped through the soft part in between her armor plates on her shoulder. She sprinted behind of the metal martial crates that were spared from the fight. She tried to catch her breath and peak out to shoot but before she could it was there again, and she is forced to hide once more.

"Jack, take its shields down, me and Garrus will hit it with everything we have." She said, quickly through her head set. She manageed to slap a bit of Medi-gel on her wound as she pulled out her assault rifle.

"Got it." Jack answered back.

"The tower is on line Commander." EDI's voice came through with good news, adding much to her relief. They focused everything in that moment, taking the beast down finally. The Defense towers powered up quickly blazing through the Collector ship's shields as it powered up and then pulled out with a majority of the colonist on board.

"Fuck!" She screamed, as she punched one of the crates that was nearest to her. Pounding on it over and over again putting dents in it. She was so mad; she had let them get away. Garrus watched her as she swears and beats the crate. He placed his talon on her shoulder, as she lets out a defeated sigh...

She failed, again...

The man that they had met earlier in the locked room came out running from where he was hiding, looking up to the ship and lets out a sort of whimper.

"But they took Egan and Sam and… and Lilith. Do something!" He yelled still looking up. "What the fuck you want me to do! Huh?" Shepard snapped, taking a step towards the man with her fist clinched. "We fought for the people you cared about while you hid, and you have the nerve to blame us?" She had reached her breaking point.

"Yeah you pussy." Jack agreed whole heartedly.

"Shepard." Garrus said, pulling her back before she would hurt the man.

"Shepard? I have heard that name before; you're some kind of Alliance hero." The man said, looking at her face. Shepard was about to let him have it. "Some kind of Alliance hero?", she thought bitterly. She saved the fucking galaxy. Before she could part her lips, she heard a voice she was not expecting.

"Commander Shepard. Captain of the Normandy. The first human spectre. Savior of the Citadel," Said a man as he walks from behind one of the buildings. Alenko. Garrus narrowed his eyes at Kaidan, his grip still tight on Shepard's. "You're in the presence of a legend, Delan. And a ghost." He walked over to her, Garrus finally letting her go.

"I thought you were dead Shepard, we all did." He said, now face to face with her.

Shepard tightened her lips and remembered everything that Garrus had told her. This man who she had slept with once said that he was in love with her, said such hurtful things to Garrus.

"I got better." She simply replied. A smile came to Garrus's face as he tried not to let out a laugh at his expense. He knew she was thinking about everything he had told her. In a way he felt a little bad for Kaidan but not so much. Kaidan's expression changed and Garrus knew for a fact that he was not happy with Shepard.

"That's all you have to say to me? You show up here after two years and just act like nothing happened? I thought we had something Shepard. Something real. I … I loved you." He said. Shepard arched her eyebrow at his last three words; she did not say anything and waited for him to finish his dramatic rant. "Thinking you were dead tore me apart. How could you put me through that for two years? Why didn't you try to contact me? Why didn't you let me know you were alive?" He said, his voice escalating slightly, sounding hurt and broken. Garrus looked at the annoyed expression on the Commanders face, he was itching to say something to Kaidan but he knew it was not his place.

"First off, Kaidan I just woke up not even a month ago and Cerberus re built me and second off we only-" She started to say. but was cut off by Kaidan.

"You're with Cerberus now? Garrus, too?" He said glancing at Garrus and then back to Quinn. "The reports were right..."

"Reports? Really?" She questioned, folding her arms across her chest.

"Alliance Intel thought Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies. They got a tip this colony might be the next one to get hit. Anderson stonewalled me, but there were rumors that you weren't dead. That you were working for the enemy."

"And you believed that shit?" Garrus growled from behind her talking a step forward. "How stupid can you be, Kaidan?" He snarled at his old teammate.

"I was here for Cerberus. You were just a rumor. I… I wanted to believe you were alive, but I never expected anything like this." He stepped towards her. "You've turned your back on everything we believed in. You betrayed the Alliance. You betrayed me." Kaidan whined. From behind them they heard Jack bark out a loud laugh.

"This dude is such a bitch." Jack exclaimed, but everyone ignored her words.

"Okay! That is enough, I'm sick of your allegations. The Alliance did not give a shit about my death and used me as some kind propaganda to get new troops. Then everything that I uncovered about the Reapers was hush-hush and covered up! I fucking died, Kaidan. Not a coma, dead as a door nail. I woke up two years later to find out that Cerberus had rebuilt me and now I'm busting my ass to find out why the Collectors are taking humans by the colony!" She said, her dark face growing slightly red with anger. All the while Garrus just stared at Kaidan, watching the look of hurt grow more and more on the human's face. "And now I have to deal with you bitching and moaning about how I hurt you, listen you don't have shit to complain about! You saw it yourself the Collectors are talking humans and they're working with the Reapers!" Quinn finished the rant, her fist clinched tightly.

"I want to believe you, but I don't trust Cerberus. They could be using the threat of the reapers to manipulate you. What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the collectors?" Kaidan asked. Shepard rolled her eyes and lets out a grunt. "You show up after two years and tell me you're working with Cerberus. You've changed... but I haven't. I know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier, always will be. I've got to report back to the citadel. They can decide if they believe your story or not." He said as he turned and begins to walk away from her. Garrus lets out a growl at Kaidan's words. He looked at Shepard, wondering if there is something else there...she said that she did not really care for Kaidan and was not in love with him. Yet Garrus searched her face for any trace of longing and was relieved when there was none.

"Alight." She said simply not making any attempt to stop Kaidan.

"Goodbye Shepard. And be careful." Kaidan said before leaving, Quinn shrugged her shoulders in indifference, but Garrus can't fight the urge to choke Kaidan for the things that he had said.

"Ew. You fucked him, Shepard? You must have been really horny or desperate." Jack notes looking over at Shepard with a smirk on her face.

"Joker, send the shuttle to pick us up. I've had enough of this fucking colony."

* * *

 

"It was really good to see Kaidan again." Joker slipped up in front of Shepard, his expression changing when he realized what he had just said to her. She shook her head and then took a seat near him.

"Why did I sleep with him?" She wondered out loud.

"Aw come on Commander you and Kaidan had some good chemistry..." Joker tried to say but then looked at the sarcastic face she was making and shrugged. "Okay...I have no idea why you did it. Don't get me wrong he's a cool guy and all but he has the personality of a brick."

"That's what I get for just trying to get some in before Ilos." Shepard said before she got up and started to leave before he spoke up again.

"Damn, Commander you're like a dude." Joker said pausing. "I mean like the most feminine dude I have ever met…in a dress." She smiled and laughs. "Speaking of your little dress, one hundred percent of the male crew thinks you look smoking in it."

"Thank you, Joker." She said, smiling and taking her leave. Shepard continued to make her rounds around the ship and everyone was surprised about how she was taking the whole "Kaidan thing" but Garrus. He knew for a matter of fact that she truly was fine and that alone put him at ease.


	7. Tension

Sweat dripped off the tip of her nose, her bare feet sticking to the mat underneath her as she moved back and forth. Her bandaged hands swung as she hit the punching bag over and over again. Lifting her muscular leg and kicking it with a resounding slap that echoed through the cargo bay. She knew she had some pent up aggression and anger that needed to be worked out before it consumed her. She just wanted to beat someone to death, again. She was so pissed off at everything; everyone on the ship was acting like she was a child. They kept asking if she was okay when it came to what happened on Horizon with Kaidan.

Kaidan. Kaidan. Kaidan.

If she heard his name one more fucking time she was going to lose it! She was fine, why couldn't anyone understand that she was okay? It was stereotypical. As a woman what was she supposed to do, be held up in her quarters crying over some man that she really did not have a romantic link to? If she was a man, it would be acceptable to be indifferent...but a woman? No! They are supposed to cry and mope over men. Maybe if the sex was worth mentioning, but it was far from that. To top off her frustration, Kelly Chambers could not stop talking about Garrus.

_He's sooo cute! I just wanna hug him! Do you think he likes humans?_

Shepard already told Kelly once to stay away from Garrus. How much more of a warning did this girl need? Back the fuck off. What was this a war ship or a High-school drama? She could already imagine the hidden cameras all around the ship.

She just wanted to scream, yell and punch shit out of something and here she could.

"Commander, Officer Vakarian is requesting entry. Would you like me to let him in?" EDI's smooth voice chimed in through the speakers.

"Sure." Shepard said, simply as she continued her assault on the punching bag. The door hissed open, the warm air from the cargo bay hitting him. The smell of sweat was strong in the air. He had smelled her perspiration before but only faintly when they were on a mission, but never this strong. He preferred this smell over the flower scent that lingered in her after a shower. This one was truly her. She was almost soaking wet. Some of her sweat covered her forehead and through her now slick hair and even a trickled ran down in between her breasts that were held tightly in place by her sports bra. Her legs were barely covered with her fitness shorts that were cut off at her upper thigh.

"Yes?" She said, grabbing her water bottle off of the ground downing half of it as she waited for his response. Garrus looked at her for a moment as if he was trying to survey her mood; he knew that she had the ability to snap someone's neck and her sharp tongue could be somewhat hurtful when she was in a bad mood.

"Everyone is eating in the mess hall. I wanted to see if you were hungry." Garrus finally spoke, his eyes glancing from the punching bag and then back to Shepard warily.

"Hmm" She smiled at him; seeing that his posture relaxed and he was relieved she was calmer since she had been a little testy lately. "Thanks Garrus, I'll be there in a few."

"Mmm. Commander, you have been a little pissed off lately. Anything you want to talk about?" He asked, as he leaned up against the wall with his arms coming up to cross across his chest. Shepard was still hitting the punching bag; she scrunched her face and grunted at the fact her frustration was growing once more.

"Yeah. It's just the whole Kaidan thing...I mean, fuck that's all everyone wants to talk to me about. Everyone on this ship is treating me like a little girl. Trying to comfort me and shit. I don't need to be comforted." She said, as she took a last punch and then grabbed her towel off of the floor. "He sent me a fucking message today." She said, walking towards him now.

"Oh, really? Did it say that he's a self-righteous ass-hole who thinks he's better because he is still with the Alliance? Because if not it should have." Garrus joked halfheartedly, falling into step alongside her as they went to exit the cargo bay.

"Haha. I'm not sure I did not read it. But I'm sure Kelly has been reading my emails or something, because when she told me I had a new message, she looked like she wanted to see my reaction. Everything is drama with that girl." Shepard tapped the button that signaled and called for the elevator.

"Kelly is very strange, I asked her where you were and she kept stuttering over her words." Garrus grunted, in response. Shepard let out a laugh as they got in the elevator. "What?" He blinked.

"She wants you bad." She snickered.

"What? No, you are joking."

"No, she is hurting bad for some Garrus." She said, giggling as she looked at him and laughed even harder at the surprised look on his face.

"Well I am sexy. But I don't find humans attractive so I guess Ms. Chambers is outta luck." Garrus defended, but he quickly re-coiled his words when he realized what he just said to the human next to him. "I mean humans that are not you-" He said quickly, but only digging himself a bigger hole.

 _Smooth move, Garrus._ He thought to himself.

"So, you think I'm attractive?" Quinn joked, putting her hands on her fleshy hips as a mischievous smile came across her lips. Was it sexual? He was almost sure it was...

"Shepard I don't see you as human, for some reason you are your own spices." He rebutted, trying not to say anything that would implicate him anymore.

"That did not answer my question, Vakarian." She responded sensually, her voice almost sizzling. The elevator came to a halt at the Crew Deck. He let out a small sigh of relief; he did not want to answer that question. Of course he thought she was attractive but what would it do if he told her that? He was sure it would turn their friendship awkward and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Shepard just smiled and dropped the topic as soon as they reached the Crew Deck, but she was still smiling as if she already knew the answer to her question.

"Well we  _were_ all eating in the mess hall. I guess they all went back to their posts..." Garrus said, as they turned the corner only to find that the Crew Deck was now empty.

"It's okay, it is getting pretty late I bet most of them are about to go to sleep." Shepard said, noticing that even Mess Sergeant Gardner was not as his normal station. The light in the Med-Bay was out and it seemed that everyone had retired for the night. "Hmmm. I guess I'll have a late night snack with just you." Shepard walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out something to eat. Spaghetti,  _again_.

"I really need to get that cook some better ingredients..." Quinn mumbled dryly, as she made her way to the table with her plate, too lazy to heat her food up. She sat down across from Garrus and started to eat.

"You know Garrus I don't think I have ever seen you eat something." She said, in between bites. "Excuse my ignorance, but are you a carnivore? I mean your teeth are razor sharp..." She wondered, looking at his mouth.

"Yes, meat is a huge part of our diet." Garrus said, as he watched her eat once again, fascinated with her tongue as he could not help but wonder what it felt like. "But I could never enjoy the same foods that you do; it would make me sick...or worse." His eyes still on her mouth, watching her with huge intensity. She had fuller lips then the other human woman on the ship.

"Hmm...that blows." Shepard finished eating, licking the sauce off of her mouth, she noticed him looking at her lips. He was completely zoned out on her mouth, fascinated with their shape trying to imagine how they felt his none existing ones. Shepard nibbled on her bottom lip and leaned closer to him curious if he would back away but he didn't.

"Do you like my mouth?" She asked, there was silence for a moment and she thought about backing away but then he spoke.

"It looks so soft." He mused; his eyes still intent on watching her. A smile came to her lips and she parted them to speak but then they both heard the elevator stop on the Crew Deck and the sound of heavy boots. Shepard pulled away only to find Jack walking around the corner.

"Hey fuckers." Jack said loudly, when she saw the two at the table. The moment was ruined.

"Well commander, it is getting late, I will see you in the morning." Garrus said, getting up from the table and leaving even before Shepard could say good night. Quinn sighed and looked down at the empty plate that sat in front of her on the table. Jack looked down the corridor, making sure he was out of ear shot. As soon as he was and the doors closed behind him from the Main Battery giving them privacy, she looked at Quinn, knowing how both of them felt about them each other without breaking a sweat thinking about it.

"He wants to fuck you, bad." Jack stated, as she walked over to the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of water then took the chair across from Shepard that Garrus once had, putting up her feet cross the marble of the table.

"No, he doesn't." Shepard responded feeling defeated. She was the one that wanted him. "I make him uncomfortable."

"Uh, if I know one thing in the Galaxy, I know when a man wants to fuck. Human or Turian they all think with their dicks." Jack took her feet off the table and then leaned in closer to Shepard. "He wants to fuck you so bad. I noticed it back Horizon. He was ready to fight that ass hole, all growling and shit. Turn up the heat and you'll get em'." Jack paused, and smiled. "Hell I hear that Turian's have a pretty huge cocks" Shepard let out a laugh and then got up from the table shaking her head, still snickering from Jack's remark.

"Good night, Jack." Shepard said to the biotic, as she left still smiling as she made her way to the elevator and to bed.

* * *

 

Garrus tapped at his terminal in the Main Battery checking over the same algorithm for the thousandth time. Did he even have a right to pissed? He always came with her, but when they docked at Illium, Shepard took Miranda and Jacob with her to gather the Assassin and the Asari Justicar. They had been gone for hours, and he was getting worried. He trusted no one to watch her back but him. His talons tapped as he calibrated. Fuck, was she upset about last night? Did he do something that was taboo in human culture? What was she going to say to him right before Jack interrupted them? Once again he found himself unable to concentrate on his firing algorithms due to all the questions that ran through his brain.

Once again he found himself on the Extra-Net.

His talons nervously entering the worlds 'Turian and Human intercourse' he cringed at the word "intercourse" it was so ironic. He had been as the humans say 'around the block' several times. Yet this was something completely new to him. It was possible that knowing that made him itch with excitement. His mandibles twitched as he read over some of the information. The word 'chafing' was sure coming up a lot. He felt himself grow embarrassed at the thought that he might be too big for Shepard.

"Gah. This is not going to work-" He mumbled to himself, until he found some of the vids involving both species. He was unsure if he should watch some. What if someone found out what he was watching? He would never live that down. His fingers hovered over the pay button; he swallowed hard and felt a huge lump in his throat. As soon has he gathered enough courage to watch it EDI's voice interrupted him.

"Officer Vakarian, there are over six thousand eight hundred and fifty four vids on the Extra-Net with sexually explicate images involving human females and Turian males. Would you like me to download them to your personal Omni-Tool?" EDI's monotone voice said over the speaker in the room, almost in a joking manner. Garrus darted his head over to the blue orb behind him.

"Shut up EDI." He said, closing his search and putting his head in his hands. Embarrassment rushing up and down his form.

"Also Commander Shepard has returned with two new crew members and she is requesting you in the debriefing room at once." The AI's smooth voices exclaimed. Garrus went to leave the Main Battery when EDI spoke again. "Garrus, I would suggest erasing your Extra-Net search on this terminal before leaving." With that, EDI's blue orb left the room to allow him his privacy. Garrus turned quickly and deletes any trace of what he was looking up before leaving.

He enterd the Debriefing Room to find her standing there with her arms crossed along with the Asari and a Drell on the dossiers she received from the Illusive Man.

"This is my First Gunnery Chief, Lieutenant Garrus Vakarian." She said to the two of them. "This is Samara and Thane Krios." Garrus nodded at the two of them, Samara extended her hand to him for a hand shake. But Thane, the assassin, did not; he simply nodded, bowing slightly with his hands behind his back, his posture straight. "And that's pretty much the whole crew- minus Jack she stays down in engineering. You'll know her if you see her. I just wanted you to meet the squad if you have any questions and you can't find me, talk to Yeoman Kelly Chambers. That'll be all." Quinn said curtly to the Asari and the Drell, before they left the room and headed to their new quarters. When they were alone he spoke up.

"So how were Miranda and Jacob?" Garrus walked towards her. Shepard leaned up against the table and folded her arms across her chest.

"They were getting stir-crazy; Jacob was practically begging me to let him off the ship." She stood in front of him now and noticed his mandibles tightening. Noticing his own anxiety, he looked away from her to prevent her from catching it even more.

"Commander I hope you are not upset about last night I was exhausted and I understand how rude I was being by starring at you." Garrus apologized to her; she just nodded and rubbed her neck. Her hand slid down and pushed her sleeve down off of her shoulder, exposing it.

"No. It's okay." She said, her hand still massaging her sore neck. Garrus tried not to glance at her nude shoulder, but it was in vain. Her neck and the way it curved in to her shoulder and from there to her arm. Humans were full of curves while he was jagged with sharp mandibles and plates. Once again she noticed his eyes scanning her over but she did not acknowledge it.

"No, really, I'm not mad about it." She said, pulling her sleeve back up on to her shoulder as soon as she did, he looked back up to her face. "I thought you needed a break." She tried to justify his absence on both missions, hoping he understood. Garrus thought it would be best to drop it...although he could tell something was not right between them. But he knew one thing and that was the fact that the tension between them was going to have to give, one way or another.


	8. No Mercy for Back Stabbers

She had been exceedingly run down lately. In between waking up her baby Krogan, who named himself 'Grunt' and making some stops for the crew and taking care of all of their drama, all she wanted to do was sleep. In the past two days she had taken care of the issue with Miranda's sister and figured out what really happened to Jacob's father. Jack had requested her help as well when it came to a Cerberus matter and even Grunt needed to talk to her. Even getting a good night's rest was a chore from the constant Eden Prime and Collector nightmares. She could not get a moments rest.

There was only one person on the ship that had not asked anything of her, and that was Garrus. She had been so busy that she had barely even talked to him at all since she came back from Illium **.** Quinn was actually pretty glad about that. It was not like she was avoiding him, she just needed time to figure out if pursuing him was what she really wanted. Jack's advice, or rather explicit encouraging words, about him made her think...Was he interested or was she getting the wrong signals? She could not tell with his alien expressions and body language. If he was human she would have fully understood his undertones, if he was human she would have already made a move on him. It was not like it was with Kaidan...she liked Garrus's personality, he made her laugh, he was strong and his voice made her quiver.

She knew he could give her what she wanted. What sheneeded. She thought about what it would be like to be fucked by him. Oh Lord, just the thought of it made her soaking wet.

What more did she need to do? Come on stronger than she was already attempting? She knew she was subtle but it could not be as much as she thought. She did not know if that would scare him away, but she was unsure if her human flirting was working on him. Ultimately she knew her sexual attraction to him was becoming a distraction. Everyone else wanted to get loose ends out of the way before their suicide jump through the Omega 4 Relay, getting closure to things so they could focus on the Collectors. Maybe it was time for her to do the same; it was to the point where she was having a hard time focusing when she was not in the heat of battle. What would he think if he knew that the only way she could sleep at night was for her to touch herself and cum from the thought of him? Moaning his name just above a whisper, as she imagined him fucking her.

She had to let him know, she could not take it anymore.

* * *

_Okay, this is it._

Quinn thought as she walked toward the Main Battery she was going to do it, it was all or nothing. If he turned her down, so be it but she had to know. She paused at the door before opening it; he stood there at his terminal typing away. He was so focused on something that he almost did not know she was there.

"Garrus, can I have a word with you?" Shepard's voice got his attention and he turned to her, his mandibles tightened.

"Shepard I'm glad you are here, I need to speak with you as well." He said his voice rumbling softly with agitation loud enough for her to hear. Shepard's eyes widen at his declaration and she wondered what he was going to say to her. "Do you remember when I told you about my team?" He started to say. Quinn looked away and nodded, that was not what she hoped to hear but of course she was going to listen.

"Yeah." Shepard scratched her head. "You only told me briefly, I don't really know the details."

"I won't bore you then. I was betrayed by a member of my team and because of him all of my men were killed. His name is Sidonis, all recorded sightings of him stop after he fled Omega but I have a lead on him. Word is he's currently at the Citadel." When he paused for a moment, she was rather surprise. She had never seen him look so angry, it was clear he was holding back some pent up rage. "I want to go there, find him and put a bullet in his fucking head." He growled, as he stopped in front of her and put his hand on her shoulder, making sure not to hurt her with his talons, he noticed how she tensed up when he touched her. "I need your help."

Shepard nodded. "Yeah sure, I'll tell Joker to plot a course to the Citadel." She knew he had to take care of this.

"I'm glad I can count on you, Shepard. Anyways, what is it you wanted to speak to me about?" He asked, removing his hand from her shoulder. She shook her head and looked at the floor a bit embarrassed.

"Nothing, it can wait." Quinn turned and exited the room not giving him a chance to respond or find out what she came for in the first place.

* * *

"So Harkin calls himself Fade now? What an egotistical ass-hole." Shepard exclaimed, as she made her way towards Harkin's office with Garrus and Jack in tow. Garrus would of rather have come here with just Shepard but if he had to choose one of their teammates, Jack would have been it. For some reason Jack and Quinn got along fantastically and she never got in Garrus's way. If there was one person that would understand his revenge, it was obvious that Jack would.

Shepard looked over to Garrus on the other side of where she stood before getting into position by the door and saw his tight mandibles and tense jaw. There was a burning in his eyes as they paused right around the corner from Harkin's office. They busted in, Harkin looked surprised that they made it past his heavy mechs. Harkin went to escape through the second door adjacent from the one they entered, but of course they were not a team for nothing. Garrus intercepted him and slammed him against the wall. Harkin went to speak and see if he could somehow calm the enraged Turian, but Garrus was not having any of it. Garrus drew back and punched Harkin in the face. Shepard bit her lip as she watched him, there was so much anger pouring out of him. She was not surprised to find that it was arousing to her.

He grabbed Harkin and kneed him in the groin, Harkin coughed and crumpled to the ground in pain.

"Holy shit" Jack said with a sadistic laugh as she glanced from Shepard and back Garrus. She saw the way Shepard was looking at Garrus. Jack chuckled and shook her head.

"I can't give out client in-information, it's bad for business." Harkin said stuttering slightly, his voice was full of fear at how brutal his ex C-Sec colleague had become. Garrus took his foot and rammed it hard against Harkin's neck; he lets out a gasp as he struggled to breathe, feeling as if his wind pipe was being crushed under the weight.

"You know what else is bad for business? A broken neck!" Garrus growled in response to his whining. It took everything in Shepard not to let out a moan, as she tried to control herself but he was getting her so hot without even knowing it.

"Garrus. He can't talk if you crush his vocal cords." Shepard said, a bit of humor behind her words as she touched his shoulder lightly to get his attention. Garrus paused for a moment; she could tell he was enjoying watching Harkin scramble for air. He finally removed his foot and allowed Harkin to stagger up. The ex C-sec officer limped over to his terminal, called Sidonis and told him to meet up with his 'trusted associates' in the Orbital Lounge to discuss the possibility that his identity might have be compromised. The call ended soon after it began and Harkin looked over at the three of them. Garrus pulled out his gun and pointed it at Harkin. Shepard watched as he shot Harkin right in the leg.

"Fuck!" Harkin screamed, as he fell to his knees, they turned to leave the room but Harkin was still yelling profanities at them. "You stupid, fucking Turian. Useless mother fucker! You could not even keep your job at C-sec." Shepard had heard enough, she pulled out her pistol and stomped back over to Harkin and whipped him across the jaw with the barrel of her gun. Blood splatter fell from his mouth as she knocked him over the rest of the way to the ground. He groaned in pain as he spat out a few bloody teeth.

"Shut.the. fuck. up." She snapped. Her voice growing cold and dangerous with each syllable she growled out through her clenched teeth. Quinn turned around and walked towards Jack and Garrus and with them in tow, went to exit the building.

"Both of you are some crazy fuckers." Jack said, as the exited into the recycled air of the Citadel to go find Sidonis.

The taxi came to a stop. There was silence for a moment before Shepard spoke. "So how is this going to go?" She asked, as they exited the taxi. Garrus looked around at the surrounding balconies and spotted an area he was content with.

"There." He pointed, showing Shepard exactly where he would be. Choosing the darkest area was always best for this sort of thing. "I can get a shot from over there; all you have to do is keep him talking." Shepard nodded understanding.

"You sure you wanna do this?" She questioned, reaching up to touch his shoulder but he snarled at her and avoided the contact of her hand.

"Yes." He growled out shortly, turning away from her and walking towards his snipping spot. Shepard made her way to where she was supposed to meet Sidonis. He stood up after spotting her and walked towards her, she could tell that he was fearful. She felt anger grow inside of her. This man betrayed Garrus and turned him in to the jaded, angry man that he now was. There were not many people around them; Shepard had worried about how this would happen if there was a crowd.

"You are in my way, move to the side." Garrus demanded, his voice snarling in her ear over the headset. She could warn Sidonis, but who was she to steal Garrus's revenge? He trusted her with this and she was not going to let him down.

"This will only take a moment." She said, scooting over to her left. Sidonis knew something was up. He turned to walk away but a bullet went through into the back of his head, dropping him to the ground.

There could have been reasons as to why Sidonis betrayed Garrus, but she did not need nor want any...


	9. The Point Of No Return.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> smut......

Right kick, left punch. Shepard was once again down in the Cargo Bay alone, just her and her punching bag. Her swift movements cutting through the air as her fist made contact with the punching bag with a resounding slap. There was a hissing sound of the door opening behind her. She stopped and glanced over to the door, normally EDI would have let her know if someone was going to interrupt her alone time and give her the option to turn them away. But not this time, EDI had stayed silent and refused to alert her of Garrus's arrival.

"Commander." He said, his deep voice echoing throughout the room. The smell of her sweat and musk wafting towards him as soon as he stepped into the Cargo Bay. He let out a low growl at her scent but it was inaudible to her due to the high frequency, she smelt delicious to him. Seeing her soaked in sweat her muscles tight and out of breath, he wanted her so bad. Even more than usual after she had helped him kill Sidonis. His natural instincts to claim her as his mate were coming to fruition but he controlled himself using every ounce of his Turian discipline. Though he did not know how long he could last. He was a bad Turian, after all.

"Garrus." Shepard responded, as she stretched out her arms to loosen the tense muscles, looking over her shoulder to him. It was rare that she saw him dressed in his casual clothing. He looked at ease now knowing things were done with Sidonis. She thought back to last night, how she touched herself and came moaning his name. How now she had to clear the air between them...

"I wanted to thank you for your help today." Garrus said, his mandibles flaring as he smiled to the best of his ability.

"No problem, you know I got your back." Quinn said, as she cracked her back. The tense air seeming to grow thicker by the moment.

 _You have to end this..._ She thought.

"You know, it's strange going in to a suicide mission on a human ship, humans don't seem to prepare like Turians do." Garrus exclaimed calmly, as he leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms trying to seem casual.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her slender brow arching inquisitively.

"Turian commanders run us tight and they know we need to blow off steam. They have training rooms and even full contact sparing." Shepard's eyes narrowed as a grin came to her lips.

"Ever fight anyone?" She asked stepping towards him.

"Yeah, there was this one officer. We had been at each other throats, mostly nerves from upcoming missions. So we settled it in the ring one day, it was brutal after nine rounds they called it a tie. She and I had our own tie breaker in her quarters, I had  _reach_ but she had _flexibility_." Garrus said, looking at her with an expression she had never seen.

"Mmm. Well Garrus, I'm here you're here so we could spar if you want." She uttered to him in challenge, stepping closer to him. Knowing what she was going to do if it came down to a fight between them. She always studied her opponents. Garrus let out a smug laugh and shook his head.

"I couldn't"

"And why is that?" She snapped, crossing her arms and surveying his body language.

"I would destroy you; you have never fought one on one with a Turian. I'm stronger then you think."

"Try me, Lieutenant." She chucked, once again there was that sizzling in her voice that spoke volumes. He knew as well what would happen; he would lose control and do things to her he only dreamed of.

Sweating, groaning, and scratching would come from it and he was unsure if her soft human body could take him.

A nasty thought came to Shepard's mind, she wanted to get him mad, and she wanted all of that rage he had pent up to boil over. Shepard knew what to say and what buttons to push that would make him snap.

"No, I get it. You have to hold on to whatever little pride you have left." She teased with a smile on her lips. She watched his expression as it turned in the matter of seconds at her words.

"What?" He growled, uncrossing his arms from his broad chest. A low growl came from the back of his throat.  _Ah yes that's it._ She thought, as adrenaline crept through her veins, rolling off her in waves.

"I understand, I mean you dropped out of Specter training, and lost your job a C-sec and your father disowned you. I know that fighting me and losing would break the small amount of pride you have left." She said, her words cutting through him, it was a slap in the face. He growled louder and soon after he saw red. Shepard did not have time to react before he snapped. He was on her slamming her against the wall, his sharp talons gripping her face. She let out a grunt as the wind was knocked out of her from the force he used.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" He raised his voice, he had never yelled at her before.

She could not help but to let out an excited and aroused laugh, which just added insult to injury. A noise came from Shepard's lips that he had never heard from her before. A moan.

She  _needed_  this.

"Is that all you got, Vakarian?" She purred, still with smug smile across her lips from his reactions. The anger in his eyes was an unnerving, for a moment she wondered what the hell she had just gotten herself in to. He growled and tightened his grip on her face his talons digging harder in to her, almost breaking the soft pliable skin. Garrus could hear her heart thumping harder and harder as it pound violently against her chest.

Shepard swiftly moved her arm up and landed a hard punch to the side of his uninjured face. Knocking him away for a moment so she could escape his grasp but he didn't relinquish his grip and as soon as he gathered himself, he was on her again. Still pushing her against the wall but this time his talons gripped her neck for better purchase.

"Fuck you." He snarled. She let out a gargling groan from the bottom of her throat. Shepard maneuvered her legs around his slim hips knocking him off balance and both of them fell to the mats. She had miscalculated and Garrus obtaining the upper hand pinning her to the floor, and now holding her wrist. She struggled, yanking in an attempt to get out of his grasp. He looked down at her and laughed, mocking her. Commander Shepard, hero of the Citadel, first human Specter, was now helpless under him.

Her hips grinding up against his pelvis, and he let out a growl at the sensation of her wiggling under him. She was so wet now feeling herself grow damp in between her spread legs at either side of his hips. He released her wrists, grabbing her and clawing her back. His sharp talons digging in to her flesh, knowing he had left angry red marks. She let out a noise that was between a painful gasp and a pleasured sigh. Garrus hissed at the sounds she made, he could feel himself growing stiff. It leaving its internal hiding place to greet her. A louder moan escaped her lips as she felt his thick cock push its way against her opening, only covered by the thin fabric of her shorts and the fabric of his pants.

He could not take another moment of this. They were past the point of no return; his cock could not take the aching for her any longer.

"I'm going to fucking destroy you..." He growled softly to her, his voice rumbling. She had never heard him say such dirty, nasty things. His words made her cunt throb and the scent of her arousal thicken to his nostrils. He moved his claws from her back and ripped her sports bra down the middle and yanked off her shorts. He then snatched her up and flipped her on her stomach and held both of her arms behind her back with only one hand. With his free hand he explored her body, first slipping it under her and fondling her breast out of curiosity, pinching her nipples with his talon until they were hard nubs. She whimpered at the sharp pain that it caused but there was also a sick pleasure that bolted through her. She was becoming a borderline masochist. His hand continued to explore her body and then made its way to her ass, squeezing the firm mound tightly. It felt almost as if he was playing with it, interested in the way it moved and how it felt. He moved his talons towards her cunt; he knew that was at the right spot. Wet and pulsing. He stroked a small engorged nub that protruded from her soaking folds. She cried out wiggling her hips as he touched her clit. Garrus revealed his member, pulling it from his pants and softly stroking her entrance with the tip. Shepard almost screamed with excitement as she tried to glance over her shoulder to see it but she couldn't. He pushed himself in to her. He was so big, it was like nothing she had ever felt. Thick, long and full of ridges. He thrust in to her with terrible pleasure spiking up and down his spine. Garrus let out a roar and had to pause for a moment, she was so wet and tight. His cock was stretching her tiny cunt to its limits.

Garrus felt his body tremble as he pulled out and rammed in to her again. Shepard cried out as her eyes rolled in the back of her head.

"Fuck- _ahhhh_ -fuck me!" She moaned, every ridge on his cock rubbing her walls and his enormous cock filling her to the brim, hitting her g-spot every time giving her unimaginable pleasure.

He released her arms and dug his talons in to her hips, pounding fully in to her over and over again. She could not even think. There was nothing but how good he was making her feel. Raw, brutal, animalistic fucking. She did not give a shit about the Collectors, nor her crew or even the Reapers. All that she cared about in that moment was the next trust of his hips that would make her quiver and scream out.

His cock had never felt this good, ever. It was surreal for him. Here he was on the cargo bay floor fucking Commander Shepard and she was loving it and screaming his name. They had reduced each other to their basic forms, no status, no ranks, no reputations, and no names. Just a human woman who was writhing under a Turian man with every forceful thrust.

"You like that?" He growled in her ear, feeling himself grow close to cumming in to her tight, wet, warmth.

"Uh..uh huh.." She uttered, only able to answer better than she thought possible, the pleasure was too much. Her cunt tightened around his cock, her muscles quivering as she screamed out. Her increasing tightness causing him to cum as well.

"Ah! Garrus!" She yelled the orgasm so powerful that she did not know if she could handle it much longer. Garrus roared as his cum shot in to her, over filling her and spilling out on to the floor.

Her vision went hazy as she passed out in to pure darkness.


	10. The Trap

When Shepard awoke, she had no idea of what time it was but she was in her bed. For a moment she wondered if the pleasure she had shared with Garrus had been dreamt up, but the soreness in between her legs screamed that it was in fact reality.

"Oh fuck..." She said, sitting up and feeling the claw marks that he had left on her hips and back. She had never felt as good as she did in those few moments with him than any other time with any other person. Shepard had been with a few human men that would have been called "good in bed" but they were nothing compared to how Garrus had fucked her. She was ruined; he had taken away any sexual attraction to her own kind. Quinn smiled and then saw her destroyed sports bra and shorts folded perfectly and placed in the chair by her.

"EDI..." She exclaimed, but before she could ask anything of the AI, EDI spoke.

"It is 0700 and yes Officer Vakarian did put you to bed, he was rather worried that he had seriously hurt you but I informed him that you had just fainted from a nervous system overload." EDI responded, knowing exactly the two questions that Shepard would ask. Quinn felt her face grow warm from a blush, let out a small amused chuckle and shook her head as she got out of bed. She let out a grunt from the stress on her sore limbs as she staggered to the shower and got ready for her day. It was going to be a very long day.

"Good morning Comma-" Kelly started to say but then her words were cut short when she laid eyes on Shepard. "Commander you look rather exhausted." Kelly added, looking at Shepard's busted lip and the marks down her neck.

"Yeah, it's been a rough mission." Shepard lied, taking a sip of her coffee and then looking over the galaxy map and her dossiers. She could feel Kelly's eyes still on her, assessing.

"Chambers, what is it?" Shepard snapped towards her perky Yeoman.

"I'm sorry Commander, it's just your face was not so battered when you returned from the Citidal yesterday..."

"Me and Officer Vakarian spared last night, he is rather…..strong." Shepard exclaimed nonchalantly, hoping not to give too much of what really conspired last night.

"Yes, Commander, I'm sure he is." Kelly said, in her voice she could hear an amused tone. Quinn narrowed her eyes at Kelly but thought it was better to not say anything more to her about the situation. Shepard grunted and made her way to the elevator to the crew deck. As soon as the elevator doors hissed open she saw Jack standing right in front of her. Jack stared at her for a moment, her eyes studying the fresh scars on her Commander's face. Jack's slender eyebrow slowly rose and then a smirk came to her full red lips.

"I see that you followed my advice and got fucked." Jack simply stated, causing Shepard's mouth hang slightly open in shock.

"How the fuck do you know?" Quinn uttered her voice not above a whisper; she looked around to make sure no one was within ear shot of them.

"I can see it all in your face, you're fucking glowing. And judging by those scars, it had to have been Garrus that gave it to you." Quinn felt her face grow hot from her crew member's words. Damn this biotic, she was rather perceptive for not being a people person.

"Shhh!" Shepard hushed her, looking around and hoping that no one came by any time soon.

"What? You tryin' to keep it on the down low or something?" Jack questioned, folding her arms across her chest and the smirk creeping to the corner of her lips once more.

"No, it's not like that." Quinn exclaimed, as her voice grew defensive for a moment as she glanced around again nervously and then let out a sigh. "I just don't know if he wants other people to know about it..."

"Calm down, Shepard. I'm not the gossiping type. Anyways, it's not like I talk to anyone else on this damn ship. Your cross spices fucking is your own damn business." Jack said a bit amused, walking past Quinn to her original destination. Shepard let out a small huff as she made her way down the hall towards The Main Battery. The walk felt like it took forever. What if he regretted last night? She could deal with awkward but not regret.

"Fuck." She uttered, reaching the door and pressing the holopad to allow her entrance, it opening with a hiss and closing behind her when she fully stepped in. As always he stood at his console, his typing stopped as soon as she entered the room.

"Commander." He said not even looking at her; her scent was enough to let him know that it was her.

"Uh...Garrus...about last night." She mumbled and shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I did not mean any of the rude things I said to you-" She started to say but Garrus' large voice cut her off.

"You just wanted to make me so mad that I would fuck you, right?" He exclaimed, sounding angry with her. There was a short pause between them.

 _"I really fucked up this time..."_ She thought. Quinn went to turn and leave but just as she did she heard him snicker.

"Quinn. Come on. I was just joking." Garrus turned her around; as soon as he got a glimpse of her face he could tell she was not amused. Her arms folded across her chest and a slim eyebrow rose and twitched in agitation, her foot tapping on the metal floor.

"Shepard you really thought I could ever be mad at you? You gave me the best sex of my life, why would I ever be upset about that?" Garrus defended, leaning up against the console, forgetting his calibrations for the time being.

"Well I see you're not lacking any ego." Quinn said noticing his prideful posture.

"I was worried, but then EDI told me you just fainted...because it felt so good. That is something to be proud about." He laughed. The deep vibrations of his baritone voice making her shiver slightly.

"I think you ruined me for my own kind." Quinn said as she put her hands on her ample hips. "But what are we gonna do about the crew?"

"Shepard I'm not ashamed of what I did with you, but I think it's best to keep it quiet just to avoid the gossip. Scuttlebutt is already hard to prevent on this ship." Garrus responded, taking a step towards her and touched her face lightly with his gloved hand. Just his touch made her quiver, Quinn bit her lip to keep herself quiet. Garrus gripped her by her waist suddenly and pulled her closer to him, Shepard let out a surprised soft moan.

"I want to feel you again." He growled in her ear, slipping his talon underneath her shirt.

"Uhm, Commander." Joker's voice came over the speakers, trying to grab her attention.

"What!?" Quinn snapped, her good time ruined for the moment.

"...I don't wanna interrupt anything but there's an urgent message from The Illusive Man." Joker said with a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Fuck..." Shepard exclaimed pushing past Garrus, reluctantly.

"Well too much for not letting anyone know." He said, shaking his head, his mandibles fluttering slightly.

"Yeah. I'll make sure that those cameras are disabled." She snorted as she went to leave the room.

"Commander. There are security cameras in every room and hallway on the ship. Including the Cargo Bay and your Cabin." EDI's voice randomly exclaimed through the console inside the Main Battery.

"God damn it!" Shepard yelled, as she left the room and headed towards the communications room, mumbling curses on the way.

* * *

"A disabled collector ship? Wow, this should be fun." Joker said sarcastically, unknowingly unaware that his Commander was right behind him, with her arms folded across her chest, already in full armor.

"Cameras in the Cargo Bay, huh?" Shepard said, her voice almost making Joker jump from his chair.

"C-Commander." He nervously exclaimed, with a strained smile, hoping it looked genuine but Quinn said nothing. "EDI..." Joker said, turning to the blue orb next to him.

"I felt that the Commander should know." EDI's smooth voice responded.

"Commander! There is a reason I know. Okay, so last night I was checking the ship when EDI informed me of strange noises coming from Cargo Bay so I turned on the cam and then saw...you know..." Joker explained quickly, his voice hitching out of pitch slightly. Quinn shook her head but could not stay mad with Joker.

"I just don't want it getting around, okay?" She ordered in a commanding tone, hoping she got her point across to her pilot friend.

"Sure thing Commander...and can I just say...Garrus was really getting it on. I never thought he had that in him."

"Joker….." She sighed, narrowing her eyes at him warningly.

"Shutting up now, Commander."

They could see the disabled Collector vessel off in the distance, it was massive. Quinn shook her head at the sight wondering how a Turian fleet could take it out when others couldn't.

"EDI, are we sure this thing is disabled?" Quinn asked, dreading the moment when she had step onto the Collector ship, she could feel her nerves getting the best of her.

"Yes. Commander the Mass Effect Core is cold. It seems that everything is offline." EDI's responded, sounding reassuring.

"Alright, then." Shepard said turning and heading out to the Cargo Bay.

"Good luck, Commander." Joker exclaimed, watching her go as she left the bridge, hoping she'd be alright.

* * *

 

Quinn was breathing hard and her heart was pounding as they stepped off of the shuttle and into the Collector ship. Garrus and Jack were right at her side, all of them in awe of the ship. The walls a mixture of dark and light brownish color curving above them like a dome. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, she could not help but to reach her hand out to touch the walls, she expected it to crumble like dirt but it was hard as steel and smooth but bumpy.

"It's like a fucking hive." Jack said, her voice muffled by her mask and ear piece.

"Come on. Let's get this over with." Shepard ordered as she pulled out her shotgun. They made their way deeper in to the bowls of the sleeping ship. They turned a corner and saw pods lining the ceilings, the same kind that they encountered on Horizon, but they were empty. They kept moving but as they turned the corner she saw something odd and rotting. She felt lucky she had her helmet on. She could imagine the smell, but her mind felt grim.

"This looks bad." Garrus exclaimed softly, his attention wavering from Quinn to what they had just come across. There were human bodies piled carelessly on top of each other, blood pooled around and under them, but they looked flat, like their bones and organs were missing, or sucked out. None of them looked at rest; even in death they could see the fear on their face. Their mouths open, their eyes gazing in to nothingness. Quinn could hear her crew mates talking but she was not listening, her eyes fixed on one of the corpses. A young girl, she had to be no older then fourteen and her eyes looking straight at Shepard. Quinn shook her head and slowly backed away from the pile.

"Come on there is nothing we can do." Quinn said sadly, as she continued to move, readjusting her shotgun in her hands. Deeper and deeper they headed in to the ship. In front of them was another pod but this one was hooked up to a screening device, they approached it with extreme caution hoping nothing would pop out.

It was a Collector. He was asleep, or so she thought anyways but she assumed it was dead.

"Why would they do experiments on their own kind?" Jack said leaning in closer in an attempt to get a better look.

"EDI, get this data." Quinn demanded through her head piece as she scanned it through her omni-tool.

"Analyzing." EDI paused for a moment before they heard her voice once more. "Shepard, the Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity. The results reveal something remarkable. Their genetic structure is identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: The Protheans." Shepard's eyes widened as she looked up at Garrus. She could not see his face because of his helmet but she knew he was shocked as well as he shifted nervously from foot to foot and began to look around.

"No fucking way..." She mumbled almost speechlessly, as she backed away from the pod. "So those fucking bastards are working for the Reapers now?"

"Their genes show signs of a major genetic re-write. The reapers have re-purposed them to suit their needs." EDI added curtly.

"Man, that is fucked up." Jack said shivering lightly as she spoke from Shepard's side. Garrus could see the shock in Shepard's eyes through her visor, as she gazed down upon the dead Collector. He thought back to the Prothean VI that they had encountered before, all of their wonder of where they had gone now reduced to the creature before them. He somehow wished now that the secret of their disappearance stayed that way, a secret.

"My god." Quinn mumbled still in shock. "EDI this data is priceless."

"Agreed." EDI answered back.

"No one should suffer that. I bet killing a Collector is doing it a favor. Come on, we have to keep moving." She ordered heading down one of the dark damp halls, Garrus and Jack following in formation tightly. Now sporting their newly acquired weapons they found on the Collector's Base floor, they came to an open room where they began to travel upwards; there were more of the strange pods lining their way.

"Holy shit, how many do you think are full?" Jack asked from Shepard's side.

"I detect no life signs in the pods. It is possible that the victims died when the ship lost power." EDI responded.

"All of those lives..." Shepard uttered sadly to herself as they made their way deeper in to the ship.

"Uh Commander." Joker's voice randomly spoke, buzzing through her ear set. "You gotta hear this, on a hunch I asked EDI to run an analysis on that ship..."

"I compared the EM profiles recorded on the original Normandy...they are an exact match." EDI chimed in.

"No way the same ship ridding me for two years? Something is wrong with this." Quinn said feeling the need to pull out her grenade launcher, just in case.

"Yeah Commander something is really wrong, watch your back." Just as Joker finished his sentence the three finally came to the top, then looked up into the large room. The brightness blinding them for a moment before their eyes adjusted.

"Fuck." Was the only thing that Garrus could utter. They all looked up and Shepard lowered her weapon out of pure awe. Not hundreds, nor thousands but millions of pods covered the high ceilings and walls. Quinn felt her mouth grow tight and dry, her gut flipped at the sight.

"They could take every human in the Terminus Systems and still not fill all of those pods." Jack stated.

"They are targeting Earth." Garrus added, worriedly.

"No, not if I can help it." Quinn grunted as her pace sped up. Garrus could tell that Shepard was uneasy; it was in the way she ran; her back slightly hunched, the vice grip on her gun, her finger close to the trigger, it itching to pull it. He could never understand what it was like for her, knowing she was in the very ship that caused her death two years ago. It must have been a haunting feeling.

"Hey look!" Shepard exclaimed suddenly, when her eyes came upon a green glowing control panel straight ahead of them.

"Why have we not seen any of the Collector Crew? Dead or alive?" Jack asked, but Shepard did not answer her. As soon as Quinn uploaded the Collector computer systems to EDI, there is a groaning noise that came from the ship as it shook slightly. It felt as if the ship had been awoken. Heavy tubs by the controls on the walls hissing and clicking as they seemingly came to life.

"Joker what the hell was that?" She growled, knowing something bad was about to happen.

"Shepard it's a trap." EDI responded quickly, and if she put more thought into it she would have thought her voice sounding worried, but just as she spoke the platform that they were on lifted into the air, all three of them were caught by surprise. Quinn lost her footing and started to slide off of the open side of the platform. Garrus grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her back up. There was no time for her to thank him because when she looked up there was another platform headed towards them and on it were Collectors with high powered weapons.

"Incoming!" Shepard yelled.

The three of them made short work of the Collector crew, Shepard taking out the last one with a shot to the chest. Shepard manually reconnects EDI's link to the control panel. Her breathing harsh and her heart pounding violently, but she was relieved that it was over for the moment.

"EDI, please tell me you have something we can use now." Shepard asked sounding out of breath.

"Yes, I found data that could help us successfully navigate the Omega 4 relay. I have also found the Turian distress call that served as the lure for this trap. It is unusual." EDI said to them.

"Go on." Shepard ordered crossing her arms, but her eyes looking around and her weapon still ready for action.

"The Turian emergency channels had a secondary encryption. It is present but corrupted in the message. It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe that was genuine. I found the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols. He wrote them. " EDI explained.

"That motherfucker!" Shepard yelled, punching the control panel with her fist. "He led us in to this trap! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind when I get outta' here." She growled, Garrus was glad he was not on the receiving end of her rage.  
"Uh...Commander. We've got another problem. The Collector Ship is powering up. You need to get out of there before their weapons come online. I'm not losing another Normandy!" Joker interrupted her fit.

"I do not have full control of their systems. I will do what I can. Sending coordinates for shuttle extraction." EDI said.

"Come on let's get the hell outta this place." Quinn exclaimed quickly, raising her weapon. They ran through the dark halls of the ship, taking out wave after wave of Collectors that were in their way, the big boss they had encountered on Horizon as well was the worst of it. They almost did not make it. She was focused, taking them out one at a time, barley having anytime to breathe after each shot. They were close to the entrance, she knew it, but as soon as she had let her guard down for a split second there was another wave, this time of Husks. Hissing and attacking like mad, they grabbed at them and clawed and bit. Quinn could see the shuttle only a few yards away. Then she heard a cracking noise as one of the Husks smashed the visor portion of her helmet with its fist. The glass shattered in her face as it persisted in its attack, she could feel the cuts and the warm blood seeping from the slices sliding down her face. The salty sweat on her face stinging the cuts as the Husk's bony hands gripped her helmet, yanking her towards the ground. Shepard held her breath knowing that her oxygen was escaping from the cracked glass. She was scared. It was space all over again.

"Shepard!" Garrus yelled running towards her. There was a blast of blue biotic energy that zoomed past Shepard and destroys the Husk attacking her.

"Got it!" Jack yelled behind him running towards her as well. Shepard staggered for a moment unable to see because of the blood in her eyes, she instinctively took a gasp of air from lack thereof and then started to choke and suffocate. Garrus swooped Shepard up into his arms and he and Jack ran as fast as they could to the shuttle. As soon as the door was shut the shuttle took off to the Normandy.

"Quinn. Quinn!" Garrus yelled at Shepard who was unconscious from oxygen deprivation. He pulled the damaged helmet off of her, there was glass stuck in the side of her face and she was bleeding profusely.

"Commander!" He yelled again, tapping her face gently, avoiding her cuts. Her eyes twitched and she let out a pained grunt and took a deep breath.

"I'm fine." She spoke, her voice raspy after she gasped for air. "Ow, my fucking face." She growled.

"Damn Shepard, I think you are going to need the doc to look at that." Jack said, relieved even though she would never admit it.


End file.
